VIDEO: Chris Brown breaks no-interview rule

Chris Brown has broken his rule not to do any interviews in 2012. Take a look.

The "Strip" singer chatted it up for the cameras at his Dum English toy launch in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, but instead of a journalist doing the honors, it was his partner Ron English asking all the questions.

One of the topics they touched on was what Chris thinks kids have to do in order to make their musical dreams come true.

"I think the key is basically just your determination. As far an artist is concerned, it’s just about your drive and your dream," said Chris, who got his unlikely start at a very young age.

"I started when I was about 11, singing," Chris told Ron, revealing that he wasn’t really into music at first. His desire to sing grew when he started listening to R&B, and it didn’t take him long to figure out that he had a nice voice.

When Chris discovered his own talent, he put a lot of energy into cultivating it. "I told my mom that I just wanted to be focused on that [and] just pursue that for the most part," he recalled. "I just kept going at it from balancing my school work to going to the studio at night [until] 3:00 in the morning, with adults."

It took a little nudging to get his mom onboard with his dream, but eventually she came around when she saw his dedication.

"My mom was like, at first, ‘I don’t know. I want you to finish school.’ Typical mom stuff," Chris said. "But I think she believed in me more as she saw me progress and really take it serious. So from there, she really just let me elevate and go where I needed to go."

Now Chris is branching off into other creative avenues with his art. "The visual arts," said Chris. "As far as, like, the videos and stuff, a lot of my progression now is directing and trying to whatever’s in this brain to fruition."

See photos of Chris with Monica, Pooch Hall, Spike Lee and more celebs.